Conservatives
There exists in the conservative mentality a tendency to reduce the new and changing to the old and stable and the illiberal traditions of men outweigh the prophetic spirit of present truth. Repentance means of change of mind and attitude, turning from sin to the spirit of God and His righteousness. Since many Christians feel that once they have come to the cross they have all they need, the spirit of repentance and change is no longer thought of as necessary and their spiritual life becomes conservative.
Fundamentalism in the church is of course, intrinsically conservative. Conforming to the letter of the Word instead of the spirit would not give man nor God enough freedom to being about needed change. Repentance demands a change, instead of conforming to the letter, we should be conforming to the spirit. Spiritual Christians are not to be conservative in our faith, we are to be radical. We are not to be conservative in our giving to the poor, we are to be generous. We are not to be conservative in our compassion, we are to liberal. Only a fool thinks otherwise but the church is full of Conservatives stupidly getting by on their fire insurance.
This quenching of the spirit leads conservatives to naturally gravitate to the more oppressive and totalitarian side of society and become part of society's ills rather than the solution. Paul taught that we should withdraw ourselves from those that preach that gain is godliness. Whether you admit it or not, those that teach it are called Conservative. Conservatives promote the police state and by ignoring God's lawsthey, take away the freedoms that had once made America great. George Orwell, author of the book "1984" wrote that "Anyone who challenges the prevailing orthodoxy finds himself silenced with surprising effectiveness." Primed and ready to usher in the Anti-christ, Conservatives delude their own selves.
What are conservatives trying to conserve, anyway? Is it morality? The heart is desperately wicked; repentance, not conservatism is needed here. Is it family values? Family values were thrown out long ago when someone decided that marriage was no longer a sacrament, a revolution is needed here, not conservatism. Conserve church tradition? The traditions of men are what quenched the power of the Holy Ghost and plunged the church into apostasy in the first place, we need to throw out the conservative traditions of men and the doctrines of demons. Conservatism in the church has always come against restoration, revival, enthusiasm, radical faith, spiritual vitality, prophecy, liberality, Christian freedom, social programs, human progress, civil rights and any act of liberation from oppression and exploitation toward the poor. Those who show liberality or progressive thought or social progress have always been criticized by Conservatives. We have the responsibility to change the world for the better, not to love the world so much that we conserve its values.
Since free market economists, and those who echo their views, resist most forms of government intervention, they are sometimes referred to as "Conservatives" or "Libertarians." Conservatives demand that government's role be limited and that when government must intercede, it should do so in a manner that preserves as much private initiative as possible. Liberals see a need for greater government involvement and planning to effect social change, with government choosing the quickest and most effective path to a goal. Conservatives want less government so they can be protect the status quo, be free to exploit and hold on to more money and in general, hang on to their privileged positions. Those of us who understand how much damage that deregulation is causing know how much the foolishness of conservative thinking is doing to the economic well being of America. Over time, the backlash grows unto a collapse of cataclysmic proportions.
Goldwater: "The Conservative approach is nothing more or less than an approach to apply the wisdom and experience and the revealed truths of the past to the problems of today. The challenge is not to find new or different truths, but to learn how to apply established truths to the problems of the contemporary world." Thus the difference between the conservative and the radical seem to spring mainly from their attitude toward the future. Fear of the future causes us to lean against and cling to the past and present, while faith in the future renders us receptive to change. For the Conservative, to change things is to ask for trouble. The Conservative doubts that the present can be bettered, and he tries to shape the future in the image of the present. He goes to the past for reassurance about the present. Progressive thought is therefore thought of by conservatives as an evil that must be challenged instead of a spiritual dependence upon what God would have us do.
Eugene McCarthy - "Conservatives oppose additional governmental action." Emerson wrote, "In our society, there is a standing antagonism between the conservative and the democratic classes, between those who have made their fortunes and the young and the poor who have fortunes to make... Innovation is the salient energy: conservatism the pause on the last movement... Conservatism makes no poetry, breaths no prayer, has no invention; it is all memory."
There is always certain meanness in the argument of conservatism, joined with certain superiority in its existence. It affirms because it is the power. Its fingers clutch the fact, and it will not open its eyes to see a better fact. The process of innovation is always the best possible state of things but a Conservative ignores it and turns the other way. Conservatism is always apologizing, pleading a necessity, pleading that to change would be to deteriorate, they suspect and stone the prophet and quench the spirit to protect the selfish status-quo.
Conservatives assumes sickness as a necessity, and his social frame is a hospital, his total legislation is for the present distress. A percentage of un-employment is tolerated and indeed necessary because it drives up their own wages. This system of behavior is static and inhibitory of change; the ceremonial system is past binding. They cling to what is presumed to be tribal history - the more ancient the better; hence their emotional impact. The Conservative Christian in the Evangelical mold believes the New Testament in its completed form has put an end to the need of God speaking to men through spiritual gifts and knowledge has ceased. There is no spiritual responsibility for social change or to speak out against injustice. These beliefs resist change because they are presumed to have been laid down in the remote past and cannot be bettered. Progressive revelation is challenged. The over-all effect of this whole system of behavior is to keep things as they are and presumably always have been. The Conservatives instinctively struggle against espousing new ideas and reject preexisting notions of truth except where it affirms their own selfish positions.
If we were to generalize the way that Conservatives are, (with a capital C) we would have to say that they are anti-progressives who resist change, rely on the traditions of the past and are illiberal. Until about the 19th century, in Europe and in America, the Conservatives in government possessed sufficient power and prestige to check the advances of progressive democracy, the social gospel, and mass culture. The key word there is "progressive," which is a better antithesis than pitting conservatives against liberals. The Great Awakening brought about much needed social reform, especially from a spiritual perspective in the church. The tide against social progress changed again around the mid 20th century when the capitalist spirit and the prosperity doctrine was preached from the pulpit.
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